After running the disastrous event that was the Really Big Free Marathon last November, I have been going non-stop. Even after finishing 26.2 miles through Lake Mead Recreation Area, I got changed and went to work for a few hours at an event I helped plan.

What made RBFM such a disaster? The “organizers” did not have proper permitting, no sponsors, the course was only half marked, they had no volunteers at road crossings, only a single (JUST ONE) medical team for 26.2 miles worth of the course. I survived it, albeit at an embarrassingly slow time (5:05:xx) – not horrible given the fact I didn’t really train to run a full marathon.

Following my first half in April of 2012, I was laid up for almost 6 weeks as my knees and ankles recovered from a 1:57:27 half. Fearing the same after a full, my lack of pushing it for the full 26.2 miles of the event left me able to walk fine and run only a couple days later.

Running my second half in April of 2013, my time only slowed down 4 minutes, despite not having my running partner with me and temperatures about 15-20 degrees warmer than the year prior. Not too bad for a casual runner. Was disappointing to not finish sub-2 hours for a second time on this course, but not so disappointed that I won’t be pushing hard on my next race.

In other business, I was contracted to shoot photos and write an article for a Subaru owner’s magazine: Drive Performance for the end of 2012. As it turns out, my photos landed on both the front and back covers, as well as throughout the article and on the website with additional content.

Many other partnerships have been forged, helping bolster my network of trusted partners for many projects. This is in addition to new brands I have been developing for each of the ‘communities’ I am a part of, such as runners, car enthusiasts and the like.

With a bit of hard work, persistence and the ability to get our products in front of potential customers’ eyes, the future is looking up!

Coming up in the running realm is my first running of Red Rock Relay’s Zion event, barring an event in California needing my attendance on that same day. Also, the rescheduled ‘Running With The Devil’ marathon I was supposed to run in July (cancelled due to heat) – was rescheduled for the exact same day. Same with an automotive event in Arizona. Four events, four states, one day. Picking one was tough, hoping for the RRR Zion relay, looks like it should be a TON of fun!

Ok, maybe I have forgotten to post here since the day before my first half.

Just before the start, my runner friend from Vegas found me and we decided to pace each other for as long as we could. Once one was too tired to keep up the pace, or wanted to speed up, we would see each other at the finish line. That ended up being unnecessary, as we both kept pushing the other to keep on running. We did not stop to walk once, even though, we found out later, we both wanted to! We kept talking the entire race, catching up to an passing pace groups the entire way. We passed the 2:00 pacer as we were approaching the finish line and wrapped up the race in a 1:57.27 (chip) time! Not a bad first half marathon.

Havasu Half Marathon Finish Line

Then, I took three months off to recover from some injuries. I am guessing those injuries may have had something to do with running at race pace for 4.5 miles the Monday following the Havasu Half. Or, with my undertraining, overusage and no real plan for recovery.

Fast forward to October and I am two weeks away from picking up my packet for the first (and only?) Really Big Free Marathon. If you follow their Facebook page, you would have been reading a TON of drama from the miscommunication, incorrect assumptions and everything else that goes along with ‘free’ and the internet.

The course has changed from a scenic run though Henderson/Green Valley area to a Lake Las Vegas based route to finally landing on the same route as Calico Racing utilizes. From what I understand, Henderson residents were not too happy during the last triathalon that clogged up roads and was inconvenient for a few hours. Knowing how the permit process works out here, I am pretty sure the secondary route was denied due to some strange decision.

That landed us on the River Mountain Loop Trail. It was finally announced this week that the Really Big Free Marathon and Really Big Free Half Marathon will feature 2,000 runners. I am hoping that not too many of them are so angry at having to find transportation to the Lake Mead area two days in a row AND pay $10 a car to get into the Lake Mead Recreation Area, that they are rude and inconsiderate. Somehow, I think that once the race starts, people will forget about the troubles getting to that start line and enjoy the run.

In addition to preparing for the RBFM, I am also volunteering at an exchange for this year’s Ragnar Relay. I know that I can’t commit to another long distance race so close to my first marathon, still though… I am going crazy knowing that I am not running Ragnar Las Vegas this year!

On another side of running, following the loss of our friend and former Ragnar teammate, Ron Kirk (known by the Hash community as ‘Bloody Asshole’) – we are putting together a memorial race for January, 2013. Proceeds from the race will go to benefit Red Rock Search and Rescue, the volunteer, non-profit organization that was formed specifically to find Ron.

We have a few courses marked on the computer, have driven some of them, now it is time to go and see if things look the same on foot as they do on the computer.

As this process moves forward, I am sure we will experience some learning pains and kinks. It will all be worth it if the run goes well, people can talk about Ron and we raise some money for RRSAR.

After that, I am contemplating an ambitious undertaking in March, April and May. While I would love to get into longer distances, even going so far as Ultra running… The personal challenge to try and be consistent and strong for three half marathons in three months seems very appealing.

Already on the books, I have the Really Big Free Half Marathon in Carlsbad, California, pretty sure a return to Lake Havasu City for the Havasu Half Marathon is due and the third race is escaping my memory at this moment. Any way, it would be a good challenge and may push me to go for some longer distances before the end of the year.

November 3, 2012. That is the date for the Really Big Free Marathon. I have been signed up for it since last Fall. So far in 2012, I have ran a combined… 6 miles. That was in two, approximately 3 mile runs each.

I now have just about 9 months to build my legs and lungs up for a 26.2 full marathon. Reviewing the course map today, I noticed that there is over a 1,070 foot elevation gain from the start line to about the halfway mark. From there it’s mostly downhill.

Thus far in my running “career” my longest single run was an 8.5 mile uphill run in Washington during the Summer of 2011. My total single day distance record stands at 21.5 miles during three and a half legs of a Ragnar Relay event. That was done without training, which definitely showed.

Being that this will be my first long distance race, I am not setting goals for the event, aside from finishing.This year may include a couple half marathons to gauge my training progress as the year runs by.

If a child can grow from two cells into a real, miniature human being in 9 months, then there is no reason that I can not focus on running regularly and become… a marathoner.